Farmers Movement Archive

Uttar Pradesh police adds sedition to case against AAP MP Sanjay Singh, summons him

The Uttar Pradesh police have summoned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker Sanjay Singh to record his statement after adding charges including sedition to a First Information Report (FIR) registered on September 1 against him and directors of an agency hired for conducting a survey based on the state’s alleged casteism through pre-recorded voice calls.Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member, reiterated his willingness to face the investigation and said he will visit Lucknow on Sunday to surrender. He added 63% of people surveyed called the government casteist and 29% did not. “In UP [Uttar Pradesh], cases of rape, murder, loot are increasing every day. Aren’t the people who do all these are anti-national or am I anti-national for raising people’s voice against these issues?”Also read: Why western UP farmers are silent on Centre’s new farm billsHe slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for the politically motivated case and added it has been filed against him for raising his voice to oppose alleged atrocities against Brahmins and Dalits.“Every section and community is unhappy with the Yogi [Adityanath] government. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]-led government under Shri Yogi Adityanath is torturing the people of Brahmin community. Atrocities are going on against the people from Maurya community, Nishad, Bind, Kashyap, Jaat, Gujjar, Valmiki, Kurmi, Yadav and other communities.”He added he has also raised the issue of the government’s “massive corruption” in buying Covid-19 kits. “I have shown how the Yogi government is buying Rs 800 Oximeter for Rs 5,000 and looting the people. Similarly, thermometer which is locally available for Rs 1,600 was purchased at Rs 13,000 and I pointed out how in the time of Corona the Yogi government was doing corruption.”He said businessman Indrakant Tripathi in Mahoba produced a voice recording exposing how the district magistrate (DM) and police superintendent (SP) were allegedly trying to extort Rs 5 lakh from him. “When the SP and DM found that Shri Tripathi was unable to pay then the SP himself met him and threatened him to kill if he does not pay the money. Shri Tripathi was so scared that he made a video a week before his death where he urged... Adityanath to give protection to him. Shri Tripathi requested the CM’s [chief minister]’s support and described how the SP and DM are threatening him. But no action was taken. Few days back, he died after suffering from a bullet injury in Uttar Pradesh for not paying extortion money.”Singh said he exposed the corruption of the government and unmasked it. “First they registered a case under IT [Information Technology] Act but when in Rajya Sabha, I raised the corruption issue, the Yogi government filed the sedition case yesterday [Friday] evening against me.”The FIR was initially registered in Lucknow against unidentified people under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 501-A that pertains to “printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory” in this case to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and under the Information Technology Act for “misuse of electronic communication”.Singh accepted his involvement in the survey through a tweet on September 2 and said he was willing to face investigation.Anjani Pandey, the inspector in-charge of Lucknow’s Hazratganj police station, charges of sedition under IPC section’s 124-A have been added during the course of investigation along with 153-A (promoting enmity between different castes), and 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration). He said the names of Singh and the private agency directors involved in the survey have been included in the FIR after their role surfaced during the investigation. He said Singh has been sent a notice to appear before the police to record his statement.BJP spokesman Harish Srivastava said those who have done nothing should not fear. “But those who want to divide the society on caste lines or whip up communal passions for gaining foothold need to fear the law which will take its own course against such people.”

Hindustan Times

19-09-2020

Lucknow